US secretary of state Mike Pompeo has said on Sunday the United States will make efforts with the use of all political and economic tools to hold embattled Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro accountable for Venezuela’s economic and politic crisis, and make clear to Russia and China that they will have to pay a price for backing Maduro. Pompeo made this remark in Cucuta, a border city of Colombia.
Maduro has blamed the US sanctions of the nation’s condition and crisis and dismissed the opposition leader, Juan Guaido, who assumed himself as interim president of the country in January invoking the constitution, arguing that Maduro’s 2018 re-election was illegitimate.
According to Reuters news reports, after addressing migrants at the border city, Pompeo said, “The United States will continue to utilize every economic and political means at our disposal to help the Venezuelan people.”
He added, “Using sanctions, visa revocations and other means, we pledge to hold the regime and those propping it up accountable for their corruption and their repression of democracy.”
Most of the Western countries, including Washington, has recognized Guaido as the legitimate president of Venezuela, though, Cuba, China and Russia stood by Maduro.
Pompeo told reporters, “You watch the political and diplomatic noose tighten around Maduro’s neck.”
He said Cubans must understand too there will be “cost associated” with the continued support of Maduro, adding, “And we’re going to have that same conversation with the Russians as well.”